Dive Brief:
- Lyft on Tuesday announced it is becoming a fully carbon neutral company and is committing to 100% renewable energy across its entire platform.
- To become carbon neutral, the company says it is "purchasing enough carbon offsets to neutralize the remainder of our emissions." To promote renewable energy, the company is purchasing clean energy directly from utility partners, such as the CleanPowerSF program in San Francisco, or is purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) from 3Degrees to ensure 100% renewable energy in areas where the supply is not available.
- These announcements come just before the kick-off of the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. "As world leaders convene in San Francisco to address the urgent threat of climate change, we’re doubling down on our climate and clean energy commitments," the company said in a blog post.
Dive Insight:
If this news sounds like a familiar announcement form Lyft, that's because it is. In April, Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green declared all Lyft rides as carbon neutral through direct funding of emission mitigation efforts, which they estimated as a "multi-million dollar investment in the first year alone." This new step forward will now cover the neutrality of the rest of the company, not just the Lyft rides.
Additionally by committing to 100% renewable energy across its entire platform including the Lyft office space, driver hub and electric vehicle miles, Lyft is moving toward becoming a more climate-conscious company as a whole. Committing to 100% renewable energy is easier said than done, as evidenced by the company's need to purchase RECs in some areas, though Lyft recognizes "RECs are not the ultimate solution, but rather an action we can take immediately to advance our climate goals."
These newest announcements fold into the company's 2025 climate impact goals, which also includes providing at least one billion rides per year using electric autonomous vehicles, and reducing CO2 emissions for the U.S. transportation sector as a whole by at least five million tons per year. Lyft has rapidly advanced the latter goal this year through its focus on alternative modes of transportation. Aside from partnering with multiple city transportation services and agencies, the company moved into the bike-share space through its acquisition of Motivate, and also recently launched an electric scooter fleet in Denver.
